The equals sign represents that each side is the same. (Not the common misconception that the equals sign means to perform the operation on the left). Students with this understanding can answer questions like:
4 + _ = 7 without writing "11" on the line. (They should, of course, write "3")
This topic follows work on addition and subtraction, which allow you to to work with equations like:
4 +_ = 5 + 2
You might also introduce inequality, with the < and > symbols. Many students are familiar with these from the computer keyboard and might know them as game controls!
A useful image is that of the equal arm balance.
My experience with using an actual equal arm balance and Unifix cubes to physically model equality was mixed - students did not seem to be able to relate the physical demonstration to the idea of the equals sign.
If you would like to introduce some mathematical history into this topic, you might like to look at the page on Robert Recorde.
Games and Activities (see also the web sites section for web games)
The Balancing Act game is a great hands on activity for practicing operations and working with equality. Essentially, pairs of students are dealt six playing cards and try to create an equation using a single equals signs and other operators - perhaps starting with a pair of plus signs initially. You can introduce the minus sign to offer more options.
Year 1 Equality and Inequality
Key concepts:
The equals sign represents that each side is the same. (Not the common misconception that the equals sign means to perform the operation on the left). Students with this understanding can answer questions like:4 + _ = 7 without writing "11" on the line. (They should, of course, write "3")
This topic follows work on addition and subtraction, which allow you to to work with equations like:
4 +_ = 5 + 2
You might also introduce inequality, with the < and > symbols. Many students are familiar with these from the computer keyboard and might know them as game controls!
A useful image is that of the equal arm balance.
My experience with using an actual equal arm balance and Unifix cubes to physically model equality was mixed - students did not seem to be able to relate the physical demonstration to the idea of the equals sign.
If you would like to introduce some mathematical history into this topic, you might like to look at the page on Robert Recorde.
Games and Activities (see also the web sites section for web games)
The Balancing Act game is a great hands on activity for practicing operations and working with equality. Essentially, pairs of students are dealt six playing cards and try to create an equation using a single equals signs and other operators - perhaps starting with a pair of plus signs initially. You can introduce the minus sign to offer more options.Web sites